Information Literacy: 4. Processing and evaluation: Evaluation

This is the moment in which you define if you can end your search for information as you are satisfied with the result, or, conclude you have to do your search again using different search terms, or by broadening/narrowing your search.
The result may be satisfactory but this does not mean it is relevant or answers your question.
Relevant as it may be it is highly possible you missed other relevant information.

If the result of your search is too small, there may be several reasons.

Have you chosen the right source?

• Possibly use another database

Is it because of your search?

• Check your search query and adjust it if necessary

• Formulate your question differently

• See if all components are needed

It could also be that there is little or no information on your subject available and you need to choose a different subject.

• Use other or less specific search terms

• Check your search terms, for example, have you translated your terms correctly?

• In a subject-specific database, you need to use more specific search terms than in a general database.

• Attention! By using less specific search terms, the amount of hits will be higher, but the number of relevant hits can be lower.

• Indicate fewer limits

     o Articles from the last two years may be the most suitable, but perhaps a lot has been published on your subject in the years before that.

Source: NHL Stenden University of applied sciences

Are you satisfied with the final result?

Did some elements turn out to be less satisfactory and if so, what should you have done to achieve a better result?

• Show the final result in a manner fitting to your research. This could be a written assignment, but also an advice, newspaper article of another product.
• Keep in mind the rules for quoting and paraphrasing,  referencing and the bibliography.
• Sometimes you have to present your research results orally. Ask yourself which presentation form best suits your research and audience. Is a PowerPoint presentation, Prezi or a Poster presentation useful?

If you find too much irrelevant information, there are several possibilities to adjust your search:

• Use more precise search terms (Twitter instead of social media)

• Select a specific search input ( e.g. search by Author)

• Search with exact word combinations ("Climate change")

• Limiting on certain types of publication or on publication date (e.g. only peer reviewed journals)

• Add a search term

Because of a limitation the amount of hits will be lower, but the share of relevant hits is higher. For example, you can see which author often appears in your first search results. This is probably an important author within the field in question. Use the author name in the Author field to further search for publications.

Source: NHL Stenden University of applied sciences